1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a measurement device for process measurement engineering, especially a temperature measurement device, with a measurement unit and an evaluation device, the measurement unit having a sensor, especially a temperature sensor, and the evaluation device containing at least a large part of the electrical and electronic components and having a display and/or an adjustment capability.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a host of applications for measurement devices for process measurement engineering. Thus, for example, the temperature, the fill level, the flow speed or the flow quantity of liquid or solid media, but also of bulk material, can be monitored or measured. Thus, in turn, there are different measurement principles for determining the individual parameters. For example, the fill level of a liquid can be determined by ultrasound, radar or guided microwaves. The individual measurement methods have different advantages and disadvantages depending on the application. To meet the partially very different requirements of the individual users, a very great diversity of types of measurement devices is thus necessary; due to the small number of items and high storage costs, this leads to a high final price of the measurement devices. The diversity of types is further increased by there being, on the one hand, so-called compact devices, in which the measurement unit and the evaluation device are accommodated jointly in a housing, and on the other hand, those measurement devices in which the evaluation device is spatially separated from the measurement unit and is connected to it via a connecting cable.
In the so-called compact devices, it is a disadvantage that the entire measurement device must be replaced when there is a defect in it. In addition to increased costs, this can lead to longer down times in the course of the process. The use of connecting cables between the measurement device and the evaluation device has the defect that the lower mechanical load capacity and stability of the connecting cable leads to problems for certain applications. As a result, a manufacturer of measurement devices is forced to produce a very large number of different measurement devices with different construction forms and also to warehouse them.